Ion-assisted oxidation methods and the resulting structures

ABSTRACT

Oxidation methods and resulting structures including providing an oxide layer on a substrate and then re-oxidizing the oxide layer by vertical ion bombardment of the oxide layer in an atmosphere containing at least one oxidant. The oxide layer may be provided over diffusion regions, such as source and drain regions, in a substrate. The oxide layer may overlie the substrate and is proximate a gate structure on the substrate. The at least one oxidant may be oxygen, water, ozone, or hydrogen peroxide, or a mixture thereof. These oxidation methods provide a low-temperature oxidation process, less oxidation of the sidewalls of conductive layers in the gate structure, and less current leakage to the substrate from the gate structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/934,916,filed Aug. 22, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,538, issued Aug. 3, 2004,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/146,710, filed Sep.3, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,580, issued Mar. 12, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuitdesign and fabrication. Specifically, the invention relates toion-assisted oxidation methods and the structures formed thereby.

Silicon oxide is used in integrated circuit (IC) and semiconductorfabrication, especially metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) fabrication, dueto its excellent dielectric properties for insulation and fieldenhancement. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,776,925 and 5,521,126,the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Siliconoxide, both doped and undoped, is especially useful for fabrication oftransistors. A transistor is typically fabricated by growing a gatestructure containing a gate dielectric and a gate conductor on thesurface of a silicon substrate, followed by forming source and drainregions in portions of the substrate flanking the gate structure.Unfortunately, the gate dielectric will be etched partially during thedry etch of the gate conductor. A thinner gate dielectric along the gateconductor edge will degrade the gate dielectric intensity and increasethe gate-induced drain leakage. In order to eliminate these problems,the gate dielectric needs to be re-grown.

A high-temperature (greater than about 700° C.) oxidation is often usedin the IC industry to re-grow the gate dielectric. High-temperatureoxidation, however, can cause problems such as changes in impurityprofiles, non-uniform oxide thicknesses along the side wall of the gateconductor, and defect formation in the underlying substrate. Whencertain metals, such as tungsten, are used as the gate conductor, ahigh-temperature oxidation process can form materials, such as tungstenoxide, that are volatile and can cause product yield loss.

Different oxidation techniques, such as plasma oxidation andanodization, have been proposed to reduce the temperature necessary tore-grow gate dielectrics. Most of these low-temperature techniques,however, fail to produce the high-quality gate dielectric necessary tomaintain good gate dielectric integrity and low leakage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods of oxidization using vertical ionbombardment in an oxidant-containing atmosphere. Specifically, thepresent invention forms an oxide layer on source and drain regions of asubstrate by re-oxidizing an oxide layer previously formed thereon. There-oxidation is performed by vertically bombarding the previously formedoxide layer with inert ions in an atmosphere containing at least oneoxidant.

The present invention includes an oxidation method which provides anoxide layer on a substrate and then re-oxidizes the oxide layer byvertical ion bombardment in an atmosphere containing at least oneoxidant. The oxide layer may be provided over diffusion regions, such assource and drain regions, in a substrate. The oxide layer may also flanka gate structure provided on the substrate. The at least one oxidant maybe oxygen, water, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, or a mixture thereof. Theatmosphere may also contain hydrogen. The ion bombardment may usekrypton (Kr), helium (He), or argon (Ar) ions, at a temperature rangingfrom about 25° C. to about 700° C., at an energy ranging from about 100to about 300 eV, and for a time ranging from about 5 minutes to about500 minutes.

The present invention permits a high-quality thin oxide layer to beformed at relatively low temperatures when compared with conventionaltechniques. Low-temperature oxidation leads to fewer thermal stresses,fewer crystal defects, less wafer warpage, and reduction ofoxidation-enhanced diffusion. The present invention also allows lessoxidation of the sidewalls of conductive layers in transistor gatestructures to occur during oxidation. The present invention alsofacilitates fabrication of a transistor exhibiting lower amounts ofcurrent leakage to source and drain regions during operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures presented in conjunction with this description are notactual views of any particular portion of an actual semiconductor deviceor component, but are merely representations employed to clearly andfully depict the present invention. FIGS. 1–4 are cross-sectional sideviews of steps of one exemplary ion-assisted oxidation process accordingto the present invention and the resulting structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides ion-assisted oxidation methods and thestructures formed thereby. The ion-assisted oxidation methods areemployed to form a high-quality oxide layer over source and drainregions of a substrate. The ion-assisted oxidation methods form thishigh-quality oxide layer when inert ions, such as argon, verticallybombard a pre-existing oxide layer on the substrate or structuresthereof in an atmosphere containing at least one oxidant, therebyincreasing the quality and thickness of the pre-existing oxide layer.The energy for forming the high-quality oxide layer comes from theenergy of the inert ions, rather than a high temperature.

The following description provides specific details such as materialthicknesses and types in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present invention. The skilled artisan, however, would understandthat the present invention may be practiced without employing thesespecific details. Indeed, the present invention can be practiced inconjunction with fabrication techniques conventionally used in theindustry.

The process steps and structures described below do not form a completeprocess flow for manufacturing IC devices, the remainder of which isknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, only theprocess steps and structures necessary to understand the presentinvention are described.

FIGS. 1–4 illustrate the steps of one exemplary ion-assisted oxidationprocess according to the present invention and the resulting structure.It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the art that otheroxidation processes and structures could be formed by slightmodifications of the illustrated method.

A preferred method of practicing the present invention is illustrated inFIG. 1. To begin, semiconductor substrate 2 is first provided.Semiconductor substrate 2 may be any surface suitable for deviceformation, such as a semiconductor wafer, and may be doped and/orinclude an epitaxial layer. Preferably, semiconductor substrate 2 is asilicon wafer or a bulk silicon region, such as a silicon-on-insulatoror silicon-on-sapphire structure.

Dielectric layer 4 is then formed over semiconductor substrate 2.Dielectric layer 4 isolates the overlying gate electrode, as describedbelow, from the upper surface of semiconductor substrate 2. Accordingly,any suitable dielectric material can be employed as dielectric layer 4,such as undoped or doped silicon oxide, boron- and/or phosphorous-dopedsilicate glass, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, or a compositelayer containing these materials. Preferably, dielectric layer 4 is asilicon oxide layer formed by a suitable thermal oxidation process, suchas oxidizing the preferred silicon substrate 2 in an atmospherecontaining oxygen for about 60 to about 200 minutes at about 750 toabout 950° C.

Next, conductive layer 6 is deposited. Since conductive layer 6 willform the gate electrode, any suitable gate electrode material may beemployed. Preferably, conductive layer 6 is a doped polysilicon layer.Preferred polysilicon layer 6 may be formed by any suitable depositionmethod known in the art, such as physical or chemical vapor deposition.Preferably, preferred polysilicon layer 6 is deposited by low-pressurechemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) to a thickness ranging from about 1000to about 5000 angstroms. Preferred polysilicon layer 6 can be in-situdoped during deposition by including a gas containing the desired dopantin the deposition atmosphere. Second conductive layer 8 comprising amaterial with a lower resistance and lower melting point than thematerial of conductive layer 6 may optionally be deposited overconductive layer 6. When conductive layer 6 is doped polysilicon, secondconductive layer 8 may be tungsten silicide, titanium silicide, atitanium nitride and tungsten mixture, a tungsten nitride and tungstenmixture, a titanium nitride and molybdenum mixture, or the like.

Second dielectric layer 10 may optionally be formed over conductivelayer 6 or second conductive layer 8. Second dielectric layer 10comprises any suitable dielectric material used in the art, such asundoped or doped silicon oxide, boron- and/or phosphorous-doped silicateglass, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, or a composite layercontaining these materials. Preferably, second dielectric layer 10comprises silicon oxide or silicon nitride. Second dielectric layer 10may be formed by any suitable deposition process, such as LPCVD.

As depicted in FIG. 2, first dielectric layer 4, conductive layer 6,second conductive layer 8 (if present), and second dielectric layer 10(if present) are then patterned and etched to form gate structure 16.Preferably, gate structure 16 is formed by a photolithographic patternand etch process, such as depositing a photoresist layer, developingportions thereof, and then removing the developed portions to formphotoresist mask 11 (shown by the broken line in FIG. 1). Firstdielectric layer 4, conductive layer 6, second conductive layer 8 (ifpresent), and second dielectric layer 10 (if present) are thenanisotropically etched by any process in the art to remove undesiredportions of the layers. During the pattern and etch process, not all ofdielectric layer 4 above semiconductor substrate 2 need be removed. Whendielectric layer 4 is silicon oxide, an oxide layer 3 of reducedthickness preferably remains after etching, even though it is possibleto remove all of dielectric layer 4. The thickness of oxide layer 3 isapproximately half the thickness of the initial dielectric layer 4,i.e., if the thickness of dielectric layer 4 was initially about 100angstroms, the thickness of oxide layer 3 would be about 50 angstroms.After the pattern and etch process is complete, photoresist mask 11 isremoved by any suitable process known in the art.

Diffusion regions 12, such as source/drain regions, are then formed insemiconductor substrate 2. Diffusion regions 12 can be formed by anysuitable process known in the art, such as by doping or ion implanting asuitable dopant, such as B, As, or P, through oxide layer 3 at an energyand dose sufficient to form the desired dopant concentration andprofile.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 3, oxide layer 14, which is thicker thandielectric layer 4, is formed on the upper surface of diffusion regions12. Any suitable process for forming oxide layer 14 of a high qualitywith little to no contamination with impurities can be employed in thepresent invention. Preferably, oxide layer 14 is formed by a verticalion-assisted bombardment method.

In a preferred vertical ion-assisted bombardment (VIAB) method, oxidelayer 14 is formed by re-oxidizing oxide layer 3. During the etchingprocess used to fabricate gate structure 16 and the doping or implantingprocess used to form diffusion regions 12, oxide layer 3 is damaged.Thus, damaged oxide layer 3 is re-oxidized to form oxide layer 14 torepair this damage. The re-oxidation is preferably performed by“vertical” ion-bombardment, meaning that ions vertically bombard oxidelayer 3 in the process of forming oxide layer 14, with little to noion-bombardment of sidewalls 18 of gate structure 16. Thus, the onlyoxidation occurring is the re-oxidation of oxide layer 3, with little tono oxidation of sidewalls 18. This re-oxidation is “ion-assisted”bombardment, meaning that ions bombard the oxygen in oxide layer 3 andgive the oxygen the necessary energy to re-oxidize and form oxide layer14. In contrast, in high-temperature oxidation methods, the energy foroxide growth is derived from the higher temperatures.

This VIAB method is performed in an atmosphere containing at least oneoxidant and hydrogen. The oxidant may be any gas containing oxygen, suchas oxygen (O₂), water (H₂O), ozone (O₃), or hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), ora mixture thereof. Preferably, water is employed as the oxidant in thepresent invention. Any concentration of the oxidant can be used,provided it sufficiently re-oxidizes oxide layer 3 with the desiredselectivity (e.g., forms oxide layer 14 to the desired thickness withoutoxidizing sidewalls 18). For example, the flow of water in theatmosphere can range from about 1 to about 500 sccm, and preferably isabout 50 sccm.

The atmosphere also contains hydrogen as well as at least one oxidant.Hydrogen is included in the ambient because hydrogen helps reduce oxidegrowth on sidewalls 18 during the VIAB process. Any concentration ofhydrogen can be used in the ambient, provided it sufficiently preventsoxide growth on sidewalls 18. For example, the flow of hydrogen in theambient can range from about 1 to about 200 sccm, and is preferablyabout 10 sccm.

The ambient also contains a source for the inert ions which are used inthe bombardment process. Any suitable source for the inert ions can beused, such as KR, He, or Ar gas. Preferably, argon gas is used as thesource of the inert ions.

The VIAB method is performed at a temperature sufficient to provide thedesired selectivity. The temperature should be kept as low as possibleto avoid imparting more energy than necessary to the oxygen used to formoxide layer 14. More energy imparted to the oxygen via a highertemperature results in more oxide growth on sidewalls 18. Thetemperature in the preferred VIAB method can range from about 25° C. toabout 700° C., and preferably is about 400° C.

The VIAB method of the present invention is performed for a timesufficient to grow the desired thickness of oxide layer 14 withoutgrowing an oxide layer on sidewalls 18. For example, to obtain an oxidelayer 14 thickness of about 50 Å to about 100 Å, the length of thepreferred VIAB process can range from about 5 minutes to about 500minutes. Preferably, for such a thickness of oxide layer 14, the lengthof the preferred VIAB process is about 100 minutes.

The VIAB process is performed at an energy sufficient to excite theinert ions and impart the necessary energy to the oxygen and grow oxidelayer 14 to the desired thickness. Preferably, the energy may range from1 to about 300 eV, and more preferably is about 100 eV.

FIG. 3 depicts the device after the VIAB method is complete. Oxide layer14 has been grown on the surface of semiconductor substrate 2 abovediffusion regions 12. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the re-oxidation processalso grows the oxide layer laterally under gate structure 16, therebyforming oxide layer 14 with regions 14 a underlying dielectric layer 4.These underlying oxide regions 14 a help decrease the sharpness ofcorners 5 at the interface of semiconductor substrate 2 and dielectriclayer 4 and, therefore, reduce current leakage from gate structure 16 tothe source and drain regions. The thickness and lateral growth ofunderlying oxide regions 14 a depend on the thickness of dielectriclayer 4, the thickness of oxide layer 14, and the parameters of the VIABprocess. For example, the thickness of underlying oxide regions 14 a canrange from about 30 Å to about 80 Å and the lateral growth can rangefrom about 5 Å to about 80 Å when the oxide layer 14 is grown to athickness ranging from about 50 Å to about 100 Å by a VIAB process forabout 100 minutes at a temperature of about 400° C. with an energy ofabout 100 eV using argon ions.

Since the VIAB process proceeds via vertical ion bombardment, it isdesired that little to no lateral oxide growth occur on the sidewalls 18of conductive layer 6 or second conductive layer 8. Accordingly, theparameters (e.g., time, temperature, energy, etc.) described aboveshould be selected to minimize this lateral growth when possible.Preferably, this lateral growth during the VIAB process may be up toabout 100 angstroms. More preferably, this lateral growth during theVIAB process is about 10 angstroms.

Subsequent processing steps can then be undertaken to form the desiredIC device. For example, dielectric sidewall spacers 20 for gatestructure 16 can be formed, contact holes can be formed in oxide layer14, and a patterned metal layer 22 can be formed to achieve desiredmetal contacts.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed above, the invention defined by the appended claims is not tobe limited by particular details set forth in the above description, asmany apparent variations thereof are possible without departing from thespirit or scope thereof.

1. An oxidation method, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrateincluding silicon oxide on a portion of a surface thereof; andbombarding at least one of oxygen atoms of the silicon oxide and oxygenatoms proximate to the silicon oxide with at least one inert ion in anatmosphere consisting essentially of the at least one ion of an inertatom, hydrogen, and at least one oxidant to energize the oxygen atomsand to increase a thickness of the silicon oxide.
 2. The oxidationmethod of claim 1, wherein providing the semiconductor substratecomprises providing a silicon substrate.
 3. The oxidation method ofclaim 1, further comprising: forming the silicon oxide.
 4. The oxidationmethod of claim 1, wherein bombarding comprises bombarding a region ofthe silicon oxide with krypton, helium, or argon ions.
 5. The oxidationmethod of claim 1, wherein bombarding is effected in the presence of atleast one oxidant comprising at least one of oxygen, water, ozone, andhydrogen peroxide.
 6. The oxidation method of claim 5, whereinbombarding is effected in the presence of at least water and thehydrogen results from oxidizing effected with the water.
 7. Theoxidation method of claim 1, wherein bombarding is effected at atemperature of about 25° C. to about 700° C.
 8. The oxidation method ofclaim 1, wherein bombarding is effected for a duration of from about 5minutes to about 500 minutes.
 9. The oxidation method of claim 1,wherein bombarding is effected at an energy of from about 1 eV to about300 eV.
 10. The oxidation method of claim 1, further comprising: formingat least one diffusion region in the semiconductor substrate beneath thesilicon oxide.
 11. The oxidation method of claim 10, wherein forming iseffected before the bombarding.
 12. The oxidation method of claim 1,wherein bombarding comprises vertical ion bombardment.
 13. The oxidationmethod of claim 1, wherein providing comprises providing a semiconductorsubstrate with a damaged silicon oxide region.
 14. The oxidation methodof claim 1, including flowing the hydrogen through the atmosphere at arate ranging from about 1 sccm to about 200 sccm.
 15. The oxidationmethod of claim 1, bombarding is effected with the hydrogen present inthe atmosphere in a concentration sufficient to passivate growth ofoxide on surfaces that are substantially parallel to a direction ofbombardment.
 16. An oxidation method, comprising: providing asemiconductor device structure comprising: a semiconductor substratewith at least one diffusion region formed therein; silicon oxidepositioned on the semiconductor substrate and over the at least onediffusion region; and a structure positioned on the semiconductorsubstrate, laterally adjacent to the at least one diffusion region; andbombarding oxygen atoms located substantially over the at least onediffusion region with at least one ion of an inert atom in an atmosphereconsisting essentially of the at least one ion, hydrogen, and at leastone oxidant.
 17. The oxidation method of claim 16, wherein bombardingincreases a thickness of the silicon oxide without substantiallyoxidizing the structure.
 18. The oxidation method of claim 16, whereinproviding the semiconductor device structure comprises providing asemiconductor device structure comprising a silicon substrate.
 19. Theoxidation method of claim 16, wherein providing the semiconductor devicestructure comprises providing a semiconductor device structure with thestructure comprising at least a portion of a transistor gate structure.20. The oxidation method of claim 16, further comprising: oxidizing thesemiconductor substrate to form the silicon oxide.
 21. The oxidationmethod of claim 16, wherein bombarding comprises bombarding the oxygenatoms with krypton, helium, or argon ions.
 22. The oxidation method ofclaim 16, wherein bombarding is effected in the presence of at least oneoxidant comprising at least one of oxygen, water, ozone, and hydrogenperoxide.
 23. The oxidation method of claim 22, wherein bombarding iseffected in the presence of at least water, and the hydrogen resultsfrom oxidizing effected with the water.
 24. The oxidation method ofclaim 16, wherein bombarding is effected at a temperature of from about25° C. to about 700° C.
 25. The oxidation method of claim 16, whereinbombarding is effected for a duration of about 5 minutes to about 50minutes.
 26. The oxidation method of claim 16, wherein bombarding iseffected at an energy of from about 1 eV to about 300 eV.
 27. Theoxidation method of claim 16, wherein bombarding comprises vertical ionbombardment.
 28. The oxidation method of claim 16, wherein providing thesemiconductor substrate comprises providing a semiconductor substratehaving a region of damaged silicon oxide on a surface thereof.
 29. Theoxidation method of claim 16, including flowing the hydrogen into theatmosphere at a rate ranging from about 1 sccm to about 200 sccm. 30.The oxidation method of claim 16, wherein bombarding is effected withthe hydrogen present in the atmosphere in a concentration sufficient topassivate the growth of oxide on surfaces substantially parallel to adirection of bombardment.